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I tried to make homemade gummy worms this weekend. Jello + straws = fun activity with the kids, right? Ha – turns out, not so much. Jello requires boiling water which they can’t help with. Waiting for it to cool – kids are terrible at waiting. Then, pouring Jello mixture into a strategically stacked tower of straws without spilling…also not something I really want them helping with (anything red is cursed and in the hands of a little person it will spill, guaranteed). Jello has to set – back to the waiting bit. Then, trying to squeeze the worms out of the straws…let’s just say that I did three and had to stop because my hands hurt from the effort it took. And I used 100 straws. I couldn’t justify wasting all the effort I’d already put into these worms, but I also couldn’t fathom extracting 97 more little gelatin tubers. My husband took pity on me and threw them in the trash so that I didn’t have to. In the end, homemade worms = bad idea.

However! Homemade chicken nuggets = good idea! No mystery meat in these babies, no jello, and no straws. Win.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves

1 beaten egg + 1 Tbsp water

1 1/2 cups flour

salt/pepper or Lawry’s seasoning salt to taste

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Coat in egg wash. Put flour in a gallon sized ziplock back and season with salt/pepper or Lawry’s. Put chicken pieces in the bag of flour and shake until coated (this may need to be done in multiple smaller batches as opposed to putting all of the chicken in at once – enables better coating). Fry chicken pieces in vegetable oil until light brown and cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel to absorb excess grease.

I bought a pack of cotton balls at the store the other day – ‘50% more in the bag,’ it said. Jackpot! I love a good deal. Well, now I know their secret…there are 50% more cotton balls in the bag because they cut all the cotton balls in half. So, next time you see that oh-so-alluring come on, turn around. Walk away. It is better to have bought a bag of 50% less cotton balls that are normal sized than to have had to suffer through 50% more teeny tiny cotton balls.

Deviled hotdogs – I grew up on these. I’ve never seen anyone else make them except my mom and grandma. But, for hot dogs, this is about as fancy as you’ll get! And I still love them just as much as I did when I was a kid.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup catsup

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp mustard

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

hot dogs

Combine all ingredients except hot dogs and mix thoroughly over medium heat. Slash hot dogs and add to sauce. Cover with a lid and cook on low, turing the hot dogs occasionally, until hot dogs are cooked through and browned. Serve over rice.

When my mom was young, their family lived in Tonga. At that time, Tonga relied heavily on the boat that brought supplies and conveniences once a month to the island. They had most everything a family could need – except one thing. Maple syrup. They didn’t even have maple extract! I count this as a blessing in disguise, because had that simple ingredient been available, my grandma would never have ‘made do’ with her lemon extract. I don’t really even like maple syrup for the simple fact that I grew up on something way better. 🙂 My husband is another story – he doesn’t like my syrup at all. So, in my house, we have Mommy Syrup and Daddy Syrup – it’s a bit of an unspoken rivalry. I get a secret, small pleasure when the kids pick mine. Maybe not so secret… 🙂

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp butter

cinnamon to taste

Dissolve sugar in water in a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil – until liquid is clear. Remove from heat. Add lemon extract, butter, and cinnamon. This is an easy recipe to make according to your taste – keep the sugar to water ratio 2:1 – the rest you can adjust according to your liking. Add a little more lemon if you like a stronger flavor. If you like a thicker syrup, you can also add 1 Tbsp karo syrup or cornstarch.